Well, there were so many _ifs_ in his mother's promise that Nimble almost gave up hope of ever getting to Farmer Green's garden patch. He didn't quite dare expect that his mother would take him there with her.

But he made up his mind that if she didn't he would go on a carrot hunt alone as soon as he could.

At the same time he practiced minding his mother, which was not always a pleasant thing to do. And he practiced starting and running, both of which were a good deal of fun. As for growing, Nimble did not need to practice that at all; for he was getting heavier and taller every day, without doing anything more than to eat and to sleep and to have the best time possible.

Meanwhile he told everybody he met that if all went well he would be eating carrots some day. And when his friends learned that he planned to go on an excursion to Farmer Green's garden patch there wasn't one of them that didn't say he would like to go too.

Jimmy Rabbit said he really ought to have a look at the cabbages. And if Nimble didn't mind he thought it would be pleasant to join the party.

Patty c.o.o.n remarked that there were certain matters connected with corn which he must attend to, and if there was no objection he would go along with the rest, when the time came for the excursion. Even Cuffy Bear, who almost never went near the farm buildings, declared that there was nothing he would enjoy more than to make the trip with Nimble and his mother. He had once tasted baked beans. And ever since that occasion he had meant to see if he couldn't find some around Farmer Green's house.

Of course it would have been awkward to say no. So Nimble said yes to everybody. He even promised that he would let all his friends know when the excursion should take place.

But of all these things he said not a word to his mother. He was not sure that they would please her. In fact he was sure that they wouldn't.

V

NIMBLE'S MISTAKE

One morning Nimble's mother said to him, "To-night, just as the moon rises, we'll start for Farmer Green's garden patch."

He knew what that meant. It meant that he was going to know, at last, what carrots tasted like. And he was delighted.

"You've improved fast," his mother told him. "You've grown a good deal.

You start to run much more quickly than you did a month ago; and you're quite speedy now. I must say that you don't mind me any too well. Take care that to-night you do exactly as you're ordered!"

Nimble promised. "I'll be good," he said. "No matter how many carrots you want me to eat, I'll finish every one."

"No matter if you haven't had a chance to eat a single carrot, if I tell you to run you must obey instantly," his mother warned him. "Two seconds' delay might be fatal," she added solemnly. "If we hear a twig snap you mustn't stop to look nor listen."

"Yes!" said Nimble. But ten minutes later he couldn't have repeated a word that his mother said--except that they were going to start for the garden when the moon rose. That much he told Jimmy Rabbit when he met him in the woods a little while afterward. And Jimmy Rabbit agreed to get the news, somehow, to Fatty c.o.o.n and Cuffy Bear.

He was as good as his promise--even better. For Jimmy told everybody he met that day. He explained about the excursion to the garden patch and said that every one must be ready to start just as the moon peeped over the rim of the world, for Nimble Deer's mother wouldn't wait for anybody that wasn't on hand.

Nimble found that day a long one. He was so eager to get a carrot between his lips that he thought night would never come. But darkness fell at last. And some hours later his mother said to him, "Are you ready?"

He was. So together they pa.s.sed silently along the old runway which led, as his mother knew, to the pasture fence. The woods were inky black, for the moon had not yet risen. But Nimble's mother remarked that she thought they would see it when they reached the open hillside.

Just before they came to the fence somebody spoke. Nimble's mother jumped when somebody cried, "Good evening!" But she knew at once that it was only Jimmy Rabbit.

"I see you're on time," he said. "I haven't been waiting long."

"Waiting?" Nimble's mother exclaimed. "Waiting for what?"

"For you!" he answered. "I heard you were going down to the garden patch to-night; and I'm to be one of the party."

The good lady thought it queer. How did Jimmy Rabbit happen to have heard of the excursion? She couldn't imagine. But he was a harmless little fellow. Really she didn't mind having him go with her.

"Very well!" she told him. "But remember: You must be quiet!" And she was just about to walk up to the fence when she gave a searching look all around. "Bless me!" she muttered. "I never saw so many eyes in all my life. Who are all these people?"

It was no wonder she asked that question. For no matter where she turned, pairs of eyes burned in the darkness.

Strangely enough, n.o.body answered. Jimmy Rabbit didn't say a word. And as for Nimble, he didn't seem to hear--nor understand--anything his mother said.

"I repeat," she spoke again, "who are these people? Why have they gathered here? The woods aren't afire, are they?" And she lifted her nose and sniffed at the air. But she could find no trace of smoke.

Somehow Nimble began to feel ill at ease. He edged away from his mother and tried to hide behind Jimmy Rabbit. And that was a ridiculous thing to do; because Nimble was ever so much the bigger of the two.

Presently his mother gave him a sharp look. And then he, too, raised his muzzle and sniffed.

"I don't smell any smoke," he stammered.

"Do you know why there's such a crowd here?" she asked him sternly.

"I think," he said, "they expect to go to the garden patch with us."

And his mother wondered, then, why she hadn't guessed the secret instantly.

VI

AN UNEXPECTED PARTY

Nimble's mother's plans went all awry. She had expected to give her son a treat by taking him quietly to Farmer Green's carrot patch, so that he might have his first taste of carrots. So it wasn't strange that it upset her a bit when she found that there were dozens of other forest folk all ready and waiting to go along with them. One extra member of the party wouldn't have displeased her, especially when that one was Jimmy Rabbit. But she had never gone near the farm buildings with more than two others. And she didn't intend to break her rule now.

Besides, it annoyed her above all to know that her son had spread the news of the excursion far and wide.

"Did you _invite_ these people?" she asked Nimble in a low voice.

"No! Oh, no!"

"Then what brings them here?" she demanded.

"Their legs, I suppose," he replied.

"Be careful!" she said. "Be very careful!"

Then Nimble began to whine. And that was something he almost never did.

"They said they'd like to come," he told his mother. "And I said maybe you wouldn't mind."

"Well, I do mind," she declared firmly. "When I take a child to the carrot patch for the first time I don't want company. One of this crowd is more than likely to rouse old dog Spot. And we can't have him ranging around while we're dining."

"Then tell everybody to go home!" Nimble suggested. "Tell them to go 'way!"